President Obama plans today to sign a national service bill named for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, White House officials said.

The bill-signing event will take place at Washington’s SEED School, a public school with students who face challenges in school and at home. Kennedy is expected to attend, along with former president Bill Clinton.

Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, championed the bill, which would increase the ranks of AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots over eight years and create five groups to help poor people, improve education, encourage energy efficiency, increase healthcare access, and assist veterans.

When Congress approved the legislation, Obama praised Kennedy’s role, saying that “it is fitting that this legislation is named after Ted Kennedy, a person who has never stopped asking what he could do for his country.”